Nobody is talking about it but Brady has a ton of pressure on him this game. He hasn't won the big one in years and people are starting to question the championship window closing in NE. I think he'll start to buy into his own invincibility and force throws that will be costly

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No pressure on flacco?

Sure every team wants to get to the Super Bowl, but I honestly believe that no one wants this as badly as we do.

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In respnose to this:

Exactly. I remember seeing Bellichick after the game (after handshakes, etc) just walk off the field, no waving to the fans, no emotion, nothing really. I can't say what's going on through Bellichick's mind but his body language isn't saying a whole lot.'

Usually coaches would be elated to get to the Conference Championships at the least.

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Did he just start watching football this year?

I think the Ravens defense has an advantage in this game. It is difficult for the defense to call assignments and communicate when the fans are screaming loudly to throw off the offense. I remember a defensive player saying that. So, the hurry up works better for us in that regard. It impacts our offense some, yes, but that's the trade-off.

I like our chances a lot in this game. It will not be cakewalk but I think we can beat the Patriots. The biggest advantage we have is passion. I know the Patriots could say that, too, but when you have #52 retiring and a loss last year that still lingers you want redemption.

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Passion is their advantage? Huh? Patriots have a loss this year to them..you don't think they want redemption?

I am sure they will do the same but oh well. Something to give me a few LOLs

Talk about reaching, sounds like these guys are trying to talk themself into a psychological win because they're afraid the if its talent vs talent the Pats win.
Im sure Brady is so weak minded he'll start buying into his invicibility.:bricks:

No one wants it more than them, he must know this by being in the locker room and since Brady has already won super bowls he content :bricks:

Since BB showed no emotion he wont be able to get the team up for the game this week. :bricks:

This patriots team is the most complete and well rounded team we have had in years. Only 2 SB winners on the roster, young fellas on the roster with talent, experiences and the bitter taste of superbowl defeat still lingering in the mouths.

There will be no shortage of motivation on the field this sunday.

And i'd much prefer to have Bill on the sidelines. We are ready, this is why the partiots play football. Not for any sunday, but for this next one and the one two weeks later.

"Usually coaches would be elated to get to the Conference Championships at the least. "

It's understandable for another team's fan(s) to not know BB, however, if they watched the Texan-Patriot game they would have their answer. TFB throws a beautiful pass to SV for the TD and just about puts the nail in the Texans' coffin. What does BB do almost instantly after seeing the TD? Starts intensely coaching his defensive players.

BB is probably the most misunderstood man in all of football. Many people interpret his actions as that of a (fill in the blank with an insult). But BB is likely the most consistent human being most people will ever see. One game at a time, a game is 60 minutes long, play consistent and take care of your job, never get too high-never get too low, say as little as possible, a 1 in 1000 chance of losing a late fourth quarter lead is too big of a chance, etc etc. To BB these are not just words he says at a podium, these are words he absolutely believes and coaches by (with little exception). He believes these words, he believes the method behind the words gives his team the greatest opportunity to win......where no advantage is too small to disregard.
That isn't so hard to understand is it?

Passion is their advantage? Huh? Patriots have a loss this year to them..you don't think they want redemption?

I am sure they will do the same but oh well. Something to give me a few LOLs

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These posters have some good points.

Look at it from Flacco's position. Win on Sunday and he is going to his first Super Bowl. Lose on Sunday and he has extra time to negotiate a new huge deal with the Ravens. He is in a no lose situation.

And let's be honest here. I wasn't the only one who heart dropped when Belichick didn't do the Brandon Spikes "stripped ball turnover dance" right after the game. I was hoping for at least a little moonwalk out of Coach B. Not even a "jacked and pumped" in his post game press conference. Clearly Bill is chocking the AFCCG as a loss.

The fact that their offense is predicated on the long ball only helps our team, since it puts Brady back on the field quickly to run the no-huddle again, against a defense that hasn't had time to rest!

See, I can say incredibly retarded things that only make sense if you spent all of 2 seconds analyzing them too!

"Usually coaches would be elated to get to the Conference Championships at the least. "

It's understandable for another team's fan(s) to not know BB, however, if they watched the Texan-Patriot game they would have their answer. TFB throws a beautiful pass to SV for the TD and just about puts the nail in the Texans' coffin. What does BB do almost instantly after seeing the TD? Starts intensely coaching his defensive players.

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I must admit that was a classic BB moment! Bill's preaching the Pats to not take their foots off the gas pedal. It takes a full 60 minute effort!

Somehow, the Ravens are a "dropped pass" from the Super Bowl......yet the Patriots seem to never be a "dropped pass" from winning a Super Bowl. Apparently, the Giants line used Jedi powers on the Welker pass.

Perhaps this is better than the reality. The Ravens were dominated in all phases save QB play which gave them a shot..........that was not converted.

I live 35 minutes outside Baltimore and I've been tuning in to the local sports talk radio this week just to hear what they're thinking about the upcoming game. To say that they're confident is an understatement. I heard a couple of local analysts talk about how the Ravens are definitely going to win the game. The local fans are saying it's gonna be a blowout. The only people I've heard so far who've given us our due are the players that have come on the radio.

Believe it or not, Bernard Pollard was on yesterday and had nothing but good things to say about Brady and our offense.

What I'm looking forward to the most is if we do win this game, the locals are gonna be on suicide watch. Last year's AFC Championship fallout was some of the greatest comedy I've heard on the radio.

I must admit that was a classic BB moment! Bill's preaching the Pats to not take their foots off the gas pedal. It takes a full 60 minute effort!

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I loved that too. He looked up to see what all the excitement was about, saw it was a TD, then went back to the task at hand. A true professional.

You know what else this says? That he has absolute faith in Josh McDaniels to run the offense, enough so that he can leave the sideline and coach up the defense. Few, if any, HC's would be willing to do that.

Read the Ravens board their fans can't stop patting themself on the back. They have the greatest team ever now just ask them. They are 10 times better than the team that beat?? the Pats earlier in the year at home.

That shot of BB's reaction to the Vareen TD is truly classic BB. However, personally I would have been a lot happier if the RESULTS of those coaching tips BB made hadn't resulted in 15 garbage time points from the Texans.

But it is beautiful to see that one of the best coaches in NFL history still gets off actually coaching during a game, in an era when most NFL HC's seem to be above that "menial" task.

To be fair, a lot of fans here are just as overconfident as a lot of their fans.

Both fanbases (and those of the Falcons and 49ers) realize that their teams are so close to getting to the Super Bowl, it's natural to feel this way. Do we expect fans to feel they have no shot after making it to the conference title game?

While I think we should win, I can actually see this game going a number of ways: us winning big, us winning close, us losing close or us losing big. Nothing surprises me anymore.

To be fair, a lot of fans here are just as overconfident as a lot of their fans.

Both fanbases (and those of the Falcons and 49ers) realize that their teams are so close to getting to the Super Bowl, it's natural to feel this way. Do we expect fans to feel they have no shot after making it to the conference title game?

While I think we should win, I can actually see this game going a number of ways: us winning big, us winning close, us losing close or us losing big. Nothing surprises me anymore.

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only scenario i can't see is us losing big. I could see a L if brady throws 2 Ints and just overall plays like crap like the last AFC champ game..but lets hope not

This game reminds me a lot of the rematch with the Steelers in the AFC Championship game in 2004-2005.

The Pats squeaked out the first AFCCG matchup to get the Super Bowl in 2001-2002 24-17 after Bledsoe came in and delivered a clutch performance off the bench.

Second time around the Patriots obliterated the Steelers 41-27 in the game where Deion Branch scored two TDs including a bomb early to set the tone. It was also the game where Ben Roethlisberger was touted as the hottest new QB in the AFC and was intercepted three times to record his first loss as a starting QB.

There's a lot of smoke this year with the Ravens and Ray Lewis and Joe Flacco and Harbaughs and all that. It's hard to look at all of that and wonder how an old, weary team that got blown out by the Texans 41-13 in October can come into Foxboro and pull this off.

This is where the bye really pays off. If the Texans had just taken care of business down the stretch, this would be a very different situation. With the Pats at home with no travel facing a team they know well that's had a tough couple of weeks, it just looks very difficult to predict a Ravens victory.